87864: Ruling on representative taking gifts and tips

I work in a store and every day I drive more than twenty kilometers in my own car to buy goods for the store. The owner of the store does not give me enough for my work even though I have been working for him for more than 15 years and there are no benefits either. He has deducted from my salary more than once with no right. He thinks that the money is his and he can dispose of it however he wants. Knowing all this, is it permissible for me to take what the owners of the stores from whom I buy offer me, such as when he says: “Take this to cover the cost of gas,” after I buy from him at a price lower than the market price?.

Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly:

It is not permissible for the store owner to deduct from
salary of his employee with no legitimate reason, because this is wrongdoing
and consuming people’s wealth unlawfully.

The worker has to ask for his rights and strive to ward off
wrongdoing by legitimate means.

The Scholars of the Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas was
asked: I did some work for someone and he did not give me my wages in full,
rather some of the money is still with him. Is it permissible for me to take
something from him without his knowledge, commensurate with the work I did?

They replied: It is not permissible for you to take something
from the boss commensurate with your work without his knowledge, but you
have the right to demand the remaining wages from him in the ways prescribed
in sharee’ah, even if that means referring to the courts. End quote.
Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (15/144).

Secondly:

The basic principle with regard to the gifts that are offered
to workers is that they are not permissible, as the bad consequences that
result from them are many, as has been explained in the answer to question
no. 82497.

These gifts that are given to workers who sell and distribute
goods, or who import them and buy them, take several forms, including the
following:

1 – Reducing the price of the product or giving free samples.
It is not permissible for the worker to benefit from this, rather he must
give them to the owner of the store, because the worker is acting on his
behalf in doing business, so any gifts or discounts must be given to the one
who appointed him, unless he gives him permission to take them for himself.

2 – Small amounts of money that are given to the worker,
which are known as tips, and it may be said to him, “This is to cover the
cost of gas” etc. The worker has no right to take these tips, and they come
under the heading of gifts to workers that are not allowed, as they usually
lead to the worker neglecting his work and that which has been entrusted to
him, so he does not try to do that which is best for the store, rather he
buys or sell to those who will give him gifts and tips. Even if we assume
that the worker does not commit this transgression and neglect the interests
of the business, he is still not allowed to accept gifts, because Islam pays
attention to what is usually the case, and it has forbidden this so as to
ward off the means that may lead to haraam things.

The Standing Committee was asked: An agent works for a
company and has a regular salary from this company. He works as a broker
between this company and others, buying machines for them, and he receives
commission from the company that sells the machines. He does not ask for
this commission himself, rather the company owner is the one who gives it to
him without the agent asking him for it. Is this commission regarded as
acceptable in Islam?

They replied: So long as this agent has a monthly salary from
the company for which he works, then it is not permissible to take
commission from the second company in return for dealing with them to sell
things needed by the company for which he works, because there is the
suspicion that he may be wronging the company for which he works with regard
to the price he accepts, so he does not shop around (to find the best price)
and he may also compromise with regard to the quality of the goods that he
is buying for them. End quote from Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah
(15/147)

Thirdly:

If the worker has accepted any of these gifts, he must
return them. If he is unable to do so, then he must give them to the
organization or company because of which the gift was given to him. See:
al-Hawaafiz al-Tijaariyyah al-Tasweeqiyyah, p. 120. by Dr. Khaalid ibn
‘Abd-Allaah al-Muslih.

Conclusion: You have to refuse to accept gifts and tips, and
if you do accept them you must tell your boss and give them to him, unless
he gives you permission to keep them.